Health Blog

Ask these questions when you get a new prescription

Every day in the U.S., at least one person dies due to a prescription drug error and more than 1.3 million people are injured as a result of these medical errors each year according to the Food and Drug Administration. The best way to protect yourself and your family from prescription errors, drug interactions, and other problems related to your medications is to talk with your physician and pharmacist whenever you get a new prescription. Asking the right questions can help lower your risk of medication errors and help ensure you take your medication correctly.

Why do prescription drug errors occur?

There are several different types of medication errors that can occur:

The wrong medication or dosage can be dispensed when the pharmacist misreads a physician’s handwriting

Many drugs that treat very different conditions have similar sounding names, for example Celebrex, which is used to treat arthritis, and Celexa, which is used to treat depression

Patients may take the medication incorrectly or take the wrong dosage by accident

What should I do if I forget to take a dose or accidentally take more than the prescribed dose?

If this medication does not achieve the desired result, what’s the next treatment option?

It’s also important to check your prescription before you leave the pharmacy to make sure you’ve received the right medication. If the medication is a different size, shape, or color than usual, ask to talk to the pharmacist to confirm that the prescription was filled with the correct medication and dosage.

The more informed you are about your medications, the better armed you are to avoid prescription errors and the serious health consequences they can cause.

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